Apparatus for operating on shoe blanks



F. E. HOOPER APPARATUS FOR OPERATING ON SHOE BLANKS 9. 3 9 l M. ,m

Filed May 4, 1957 7 Sheefs-Sheet l fig Jan. 24, 1939. F. E, HooPER APPARATUS FOR OPERATING ON SHOE BLANKS 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Filed May 4, 1937 @MIEI Jan. 24, 1939. F, E. HOOPER 2,144,721

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING ON SHOE BLANKSy y Filed May 4, 1957 '7 Sheets-#Sheet 3 Ul) L QQ Jan. 24, 1939. F E HOOPER 2,144,721

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING oN SHOE BLANKS Filled May 4, 1937 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 jm. 24, ww

` F. E. HOQFER APPARATUS FOR OPERATING ON SHOE BLANKS 7 sheets-smet 5 Filed May 4, 1957 L @Ji Ba-mo Z4, w39.

F. E. HQOPER ZMJEZv APPARATS FOR OPERATING'ION SHOE BLANKS Filed May 4,v 1957 7 SheetsmSheet 6 .a R E Imm F. E. HOOPER APPARATUS FOR OPERATING` ON SHOE BLANKS 24, MEQ.

Filed May 4, 1937 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Patented Jan. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR OPERATING ON SHOE BLANKS Application May 4, 1937, Serial No. 140,684

17 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for operating on blanks of sheet material and is herein illustrated as embodied in an apparatus designed particularly for treating the edge of a toe tip of a shoe.

In certain classes of shoes, notably the cheaper grades of mens welt and McKay shoes, the rear edge of the toe tip is a so-called raw edge as distinguished from one which has been finished l0 by being folded or shrunk. This raw edge, however, overlying as it does the vamp of the' shoe, is very conspicuous and for salability of the shoe must be uniform in curvature and thickness and must be colored to correspond to the finished surface of the leather. Commonly, too, a row of ornamental perforations is provided adjacent to the raw edge.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide apparatus to present a blank successively to one or more of a plurality of operating mechanisms designed to trim, skive, ink and perforate the blanks.

As illustrated and in accordance with features of the invention, the edges of the blanks to be treated, projecting from suitable carriers and moved in a plane thereby, are deflected downwardly and are trimmed by cooperating cutters and then are skived or grade scarfcd to give the blanks an edge of uniform thickness by a skiving cutter of the disk type, operated on an axis inclined to the plane of the blank. The edges are then treated by an inking mechanism and the blanks carried along to the perforating mechanism, after-which they are removed :from the 35 carrier clamps and deposited in a suitable receptacle.

Inasmuch as the general radius of curvature of the rear edges of the shoe tips will vary in accordance with the size of the shoes and for reasons of style, the apparatus is arranged for adjustment so that both the path of movement of the work Carriers and the position of the operating tools is correct for the particular radius of curvature of the work to be treated. Thus, in accordance with other features of the invention, provision is made for adjusting the support for the trimming rolls so that the plane of their meeting edges will be normal to a radius of the work. An adjustment for use principally when assembling the machine is provided to permit the skiving mechanism to be moved radially of the carrier, another adjustment substantially at right angles to this one being pro- 5 vided to allow the operator to compensate for any lessening of the diameter of the skiving knife as a result of grinding.

The illustrated inking mechanism comprises an ink-applying member projecting from a suitable receptacle and, in order that the ink may 5 not be polluted with dust or become oxidized from constant exposure to the air, a cover is provided which is lifted away from the applying member as a piece of work is presented thereto by one of the carriers of the apparatus. 10

These and other features of the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. l is a plan View of that portion of the 15 machine where the trimming, skiving and inking operations are performed;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the whole machine on a smaller scale;

Fig. 3 is an angular View of the trimming and skiving apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the machine, looking at this same apparatus;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the trimming and the skiving apparatuses with parts broken away and in section;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view, showing the chipcollecting duct;

Fig. 'l is a fragmentary view showing the skiving apparatus; 30 Fig. 8 is a vertical section through the drive shaft for the skiving knife and the grinder therefor;

Fig. 9 is a plan view illustrating the supporting frame for the trimming and the skiving appar- 35 atuses, and

Fig. 10 is a detail view of the inking apparatus, showing the relation of a work carrier thereto.

,The machine comprises a frame having an elongated, slotted bed I0 in front of which (Fig. 2) there is Supported a loading platform L which is carried on a rod I2 (Fig. 3). At that platform, pieces of work W, shown as shoe tips, are presented individually by an operator to the successive carriers C and as these carriers are 45 rotated about an axis I4 (Fig. 1) carrying the work pieces W in a horizontal plane, they present the rear edge of each tip to a trimming mechanism T, then to a skiving or grade-scarfing mechanism S and, as the movement of the car- 50 riers continues ink is applied to the trimmed edge of each tip by an inking mechanism I, after which the tips are provided with a row of perforations by a perforating machine P (Fig. 2). As the movement of the carriers con- 55 tinues, the pieces are released from the carriers and deposited in .a receptacle R. It will be understood that the general arrangement of the machine is similar to that shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,989,682, granted February 5, 1935, on the application of J. B. Coffey, and reference may be had to that patent for a disclosure of details of the carriers and the operating mechanism therefor.

In general, however, it will be understood that the carriers C are adjustably supported on dovetail-shaped vertical bars |6 (Fig. 3) carried at the outer ends of radial arms |8 which areprovided with disk-like hubs 20 rotatable about the axis I4 on a vertical shaft in a support 2| and frictionally driven from a sprocket 22. Surmounting these hubs 20 is a casing 23 for a counting mechanism. This sprocket receives its power from a drive shaft 24 along the rear side of the bed of the machine and is connected thereto by reducing gears and a chain concealed under a cover 26 (Fig. 1). The drive shaft is rotated by an electric motor 28, being connected thereto through speed-reducing gears concealed within a housing 29.

Each of the carriers is provided with main clamps 30 and auxiliary clamps 32, the main clamps being held in gripping engagement with the work by a toggle 34. The shoe tip W is held in these clamps in such a position that its rear edge 36 is treated by the successive operating mechanisms, the center of curvature of this edge 36 coinciding with the axis |4. Each of the carriers is also provided with a curved rack 33 which meshes with a series of driving pinions 40 positioned inside the trimming and skiving mechanisms. These pinions, as in the Coffey machine, carry the work in a single plane positively past these operating mechanisms T and S, and the pinions are driven, as there shown, from a countershaft 42 having a worm gear 44 (Figs. 4 and 8) which meshes with a worm 46 on the drive shaft 24. After passing the trimming and skiving mechanisms, the carrier is moved frictionally until it reaches the perforating mechanism P, at which point it is again positively, though intermittently, driven by another pinion similar to the plnions 40 but not shown herein. As the carrier reaches the trimming rolls, the lower of the auxiliary clamps 32 is supported on a curved rail 50 and the upper clamp 32 is held rmly in engagement with the tip by a spring-pressed roller 52 supported in a bracket 54 on a crossbar 56. 'This crossbar is bolted to a subframe 60 carried on a sub-base 62 which, in turn, is bolted to the bed of the machine.

At the trimming mechanism T, a symmetrically curved raw edge 36 of the tip is formed by coacting shear rolls 64 and 66 positioned in overlapping, endwise relation, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, being rotatably mounted in bearings formed in a bracket 68. The margin of the work piece W projecting beyond the jaws of a carrier C is deflected into contact with the lower roll 64 by a presser roll 65 (Fig. 5) freely rotatable on a rod 61 adjustably supported in a bracket 69 bolted to the crossbar 56. The bracket 68, which is adjustable around a stub shaft l0, forming part of the drive for the trimming mechanism is arranged to be held in adjusted position, by means of a set screw 'l2 (Fig. 5) binding a sleeve 'I3 on the bracket 68, in such relation to the rest of the machine that the plane of the meeting edges of the shearing rolls will be tangential to the curve of the rear edge 36 of the work piece. It will be understood that the support 2| for the carriers may be adjusted longitudinally of the bed l0 and clamped in position by bolts which pass through the slots 16 in the bed as the machine is being set up to operate on tips of a particular radius oi curvature. At that time, the arms I8 of the carrier mechanism will be selected for this particular radius and the perfcrating mechanism P will also be adjusted bodily on the bed |0 by means of a hand screw T8.

The shafts carrying the two trimming rolls 64 and 66 are interconnected by pinions 80 and the shaft for the lower roll 64 is adapted to be driven by miter gears 82 through the shaft '|0 and thence by skew gears 84 through a cross shaft 86 which derives its power from the drive shaft 24 through a worm and gear 88 (Fig. 8). The upper trimming roll 66 is frusto conical in shape and is yieldingly heldin end engagement with the lower roll 64 by means of a spring 90 (Fig. 5) bearing against a collar 92 on its shaft.

Although the illustrated trimming rolls are designed to produce a smoothly curved edge, it will be understood that other shapes of edge, such as zigzag, scalloped and the like, may readily be produced by the substitution of suitably shaped trimming rolls (not shown).

The edge margin of the work which has been treated by the trimming mechanism T is then acted on by the skiving or grade-scarfing mechanism S which, by removing a thin skiving from the esh side of the margin, operates to reduce the margin to a predetermined uniform thickness, this being particularly important in rawedge tips because of the conspicuousness of this rear edge of the tip as it overlies the vamp of the shoe. The leather from which shoe tips are made is quite flexible and, accordingly, it is not desirable to have very much of the work project beyond the jaws 32 of the carriers C.

Furthermore, easy action of the skiving knife without wrinkling the leather can advantageously be obtained when the path of movement of the edge of the work extends from the point of operation substantially through the axis of the cutter. The moving edge of the cutter therefore passes substantially at right angles to the direction of movement of the work. This being true, interference between the disk-skiving knife |02 and the carriers (Fig. can best be avoided by tilting the axis of the skiving knife so that the knife itself overlies the edge of the carriers, the margin of the work being deflected downwardly and supported at the top of a driven roll |00 for the action of the disk or Amazeen type of skiving knife |02 mounted at the lower end of an inclined shaft |04 journaled in a casing |06 which is adjustable in various ways, to be described, with respect to the sub-base 62. The work-supporting roll |00 is mounted on a shaft |08 (Fig. '7) journaled in a bracket ||0 which is secured to the sub-base 62. This shaft |08 is driven by a skewgear connection ||2 to the transverse shaft 86 while the skiving-disk-carrying shaft |04 is driven by a belt ||4 extending between a pulley ||5 on said shaft |04 and a pulley ||6 secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft ||8 having a skewgear connection |20 to the drive shaft 24.

Adjustment of the position of the skiving'knife |02 radially of the carriers C, when the machine is being set up, is permitted by slots |22 and |24 in a plate |26 which is bolted to the sub-base 62. A bracket |28, adjustably mounted on this plate |26, and which indirectly carries the casing |06, may be moved tangentially to the path of the carriers to allow the operative portion of the skiving knife |62 to be brought up to the top of the supporting roll |00 so that any lessening of the diameter of the knife as a result of grinding may be compensated. To this end, this bracket |28 has a slot |30 (Fig. l) through which passes a clamp bolt |32 threaded in the plate |26. Movement of the bracket with respect to the plate is effected by a hand screw |34 threaded in the bracket |26 and held against axial movement with respect to the plate |26 by the coaction of collars |36 on the screw with lugs |38 on the plate.

To enable the skiving knife |02 to be set to make a scarng cut having a varying angular relation to the top of the supporting wheel |00, arcuate slots |46 (Figl 5) are provided in a plate |42 bolted to an upright portion of the bracket |28 and guided for .adjustment thereon by an arcuate groove and rib connection |43 (Fig. 5), centered on the point |45 (Fig. 7). This plate is provided with ways |44 for the reception of a dovetail-shaped rib |46 (Fig. 3) on the casing 06, thus permitting the casing |06 to be adjusted to move the cutter |02 axially so as to determine the thickness of the raw edge which is being produced. This movement is controlled by a hand screw |48 passing freely through a lug E41 extending laterally from the rib |46 and threaded in the plate |42. A spring |45 surrounding the screw presses the lug |41 into an adjusted position determined by a shoulder |49 on the screw |48.

Turning now to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the shaft |04 is journaled in the casing |66 by ball bearings |50 and |52 lubricated by suitable grease cups. A grease-retaining felt |54 at the lower end of the casing is held in position by a cover |56. Chattering of the knife due to any looseness in the bearings is automatically prevented by a sleeve |58 pressed upwardly by springs |60 against the outer race of the bearing |52. Disposal of the chips removed by the trimming mechanism T and the skiving mechanism S is effected by a hopper |6| having an elongated mouth |63 (Figs. 6 and 9) underlying both the trimming and the skiving mechanisms. This hopper is connected through a passage |65 to a down spout |61 (Fig. 4).

To avoid the necessity of removing the skiving knife 02 for sharpening, the machine has been provided with a cup-shaped grinding disk |62 (Fig. 7) journaled in an arm |64 extending outwardly from the casing |06 in which the skivingknife shaft rotates. Movement of the grinder along its axis of rotation is eifected by a lever |66 capable of being moved by a hand screw |68 threaded in an extension |10 of the arm |64 in which the grinder is rotatable. An arrangement of this sort, is described more specifically in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,652,513, granted December 13, 1927, on an application of M. I-I. Ballard. Since it is not necessary to use the grinder continuously, provision for driving it comprises a belt |12 (Fig, l) encircling a pulley on the grinder and another pulley |14 (Fig, 8) mounted for rotation on the upright shaft ||8. A friction clutch |16 is interposed between this pulley and a clutch plate |18 splined tothe shaft. This clutch plate |18 may be raised at the will of the operator by a lifting force transmitted through a ball bearing |80 from a sleeve |82. The lower end of this sleeve has inclined faces |84 (Fig. 4) resting on similar faces |86 formed in a casing |88 forming an extension of the subbase 62 and surrounding the reduction gears 44 and 88 and the upright shaft IIB. The sleeve |82 has a projection |90 (Fig. 9) into engagement with which may be brought the pointed end of a control rod |92, the handle |94 of which is located 5 at the front of the machine where it is accessible to an operator standing at the loading station L.

After the raw edge 36 of the tip has been formed by the trimming and skiving mechanisms T and S, it is presented to an inking mechanism I 10 y where the edge will be colored by an ink or dye held in a receptacle 200 clamped by a screw 20| (Fig. 1) on a rod 202 (Fig. 4) depending from the upper end of the bracket 60. In this receptacle is a freely rotatable disk 204 dipping in the 15 ink and extending above the upper edge of the receptacle so that the edge of the tip may be brought into contact with an end face 206 (Fig. 10) of the disk as it is moved along in a carrier C. In order to protect the ink from undue evapo- 20 The tips, having been inked, are then passed .30

along to the perforating mechanism P, where they are operated on through the coaction of a die and platen, the latter of which is mounted on. a reciprocable bar 220 (Fig. 2) given an upand-down movement by a linkage 222 operated from a crank shaft 224 which derives its power from the main shaft 24 through a reducing drive within a closure 226. Control of the spacing of the perforations is effected by an adjustable arm 228, as is common in machines of this type. As

the carriers leave the perforating mechanism P, the toggle 34 on each carrier is broken by Contact of an extension 230 (Fig. 5) on the toggle with a fixed cam 232 supported on a bracket 233 (Fig.

2), releasing the clamp and allowing the tips to 45 be swept out of the clamp into a receptacle by a finger 234.

From this description, it will be seen that when the machine is in operation, tips positioned in the carrier C at the loading station L will be treated successively by the trimming mechanism T to provide a true edge, by the skiving mechanism S to reduce the edge to a uniform thickness, by the inking mechanism I to make the color of the edge correspond to the color of the grain or finished surface of the tip and by the perforating mechanism P' to provide the usual row of perforations adjacent the edge. The finished tips will then be deposited in the receptacle R where they may be gathered into packs by the operator of the machine,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for operating on the edge of blank having, in combination, trimming mechanism to provide an edge of uniform contour, skiving mechanism to reduce the edge to a uniform thickness, inking mechanism to color the edge of the blank, and means fo-r presenting a blank to and feeding it successively past said mechanisms.

2. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank having, in combination, cutting means acting on angularly related faces for treating the The cover 208 overlies the 25 margin of a blank to provide a raw edge of uniform contour and uniform thickness, means for perforating the blank in a predetermined relation to said contour, and means for presenting a blank to and feeding it successively past said mechanisms.

3. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank having, in combination, trimming mechanism to provide an edge of uniform contour, skiving mechanism to reduce the edge portion of the blank to a uniform thickness, perforating mechanism to form perforations adjacent to the skived edge, and means for presenting a blank to and feeding it successively past said mechanisms.

4. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank having, in combination, trimming mechanism to provide the blank with a uniform contour, inking mechanism to color the trimmed edge, perforating mechanism to perforate the work adjacent to said edge, and means for presenting a blank to and feeding it successively past said mechanisms.

5. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank having, in combination, skiving mechanism to reduce the edge portion to a uniform thickness, inking mechanism to color the edge of the blank, perforating mechanism to provide perforations adjacent to the edge of the blank, and means for presenting a blank to and. feeding it successively past said mechanisms.

6. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank having, in combination, trimming mechanism to provide an edge of uniform contour, skiving mechanism to reduce the edge portion to a uniform thickness, inking mechanism to color the trimmed edge, perforating mechanism to perforate the work Within a predetermined relation to the trimmed edge, and means for presenting a blank to and feeding it successively past said mechanisms.

7. Apparatus for nishing the edge of a blank and for perforating a blank having, in combination, a blank carrier rotatable about an axis, and trimming, inking and perforating mechanisms located at points along the path of movement of a blank held in the carrier.

8. Apparatus for operating on the edge portion of a fiat blank comprising a blank carrier for clamping the blank, leaving a projecting edge portion to be treated, means for moving the carrier to transfer the blank along the plane of the blank, and means for skiving the edge of the blank comprising a supporting roll the operative portion of which lies at an inclination to the plane of movement of the blank and a cooperating, rotatable, skiving knife the axis of Which is inclined with respect to the plane of movement of the blank thereby avoiding interference between the trimming knife and the carrier.

9. Apparatus for trimming the curved edge of a blank comprising a carrier rotatable about an axis substantially coinciding with the center of curvature of the blank, said carrier gripping the work at a point spaced from the edge thereof leaving a projecting portion to be treated, a worksupporting roll for said edge portion rotatable about an axis making an acute angle with the plane of the work piece and positioned at one side thereof, and a cooperating disk-type skiving knife cutter rotatable about an axis inclined to the plane of movement of the blank and positioned at the opposite side thereof.

l0. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank comprising, in combination, a carrier movable about an axis, said carrier being arranged to clamp the blank leaving a projecting portion to be treated, skiving mechanism for acting on the edge of a blank to reduce its thickness comprising a work-supporting device and a rotatable knife, a bearing for said rotatable knife, and means for adjusting the position of said bearing along a path parallel to a tangent to the path of movement of the carrier- 11. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank comprising, in combination, a carrier movable about an axis, said carrier being arranged to clamp the blank leaving a projecting portion to be treated, skiving mechanism for acting on the edge of a blank to reduce its thickness comprising a Work-supporting device and a rotatable knife, a bearing for said rotatable knife, and means for adjusting said bearing to move the knife toward and away from the axis of the carrier.

l2. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank comprising, in combination, a carrier movable about an axis, said carrier being arranged to clamp the blank leaving a projecting portion to be treated, skiving mechanism for acting on the edge of a blank to reduce its thickness comprising a work-supporting device and a rotatable knife, a bearing for said rotatable knife, and means for adjusting said bearing toward and away from the axis of the carrier and along a path parallel to a tangent to the path of movement of the carrier.

13. Apparatus for treating the rear edge of a toe tip having, in combination, a carrier rotatable about an axis, said carrier being arranged to grip a toe tip leaving the rear edge portion extending beyond the carrier, means for deecting the projecting edge of the tip, and a rotary shear cutter and a rotatable skiving knife positioned to operate successively on the deflected edge.

14. Apparatus for operating on the rear edge of a toe tip comprising a carrier clamp for gripping the tip along a line spaced from the rear edge of the tip leaving a projecting portion, means for deecting the projecting portion of the tip, a rotary shear for trimming the edge, and a disk-type skiving knife for operating on the trimmed edge to reduce it to a uniform thickness.

15. Apparatus for operating on the rear edge of a toe tip comprising a carrier clamp for gripping the tip along a line spaced from the rear edge of the tip leaving a projecting portion, means for deiiecting the projecting portion of the tip, a rotary shear cutter for trimming the edge, a disk-type skiving cutter for operating on the trimmed edge to reduce it to a uniform thickness, and a common chip-removing device for said trimming and said skiving cutters.

16. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank to apply ink thereto comprising an ink receptacle, an applying member projecting therefrom, a movable cover for said applying member, a carrier movable in a predetermined path to present the edge of a blank to the applying mechanism, and means for displacing said cover as the blank is presented to the applying mechanism.

17. Apparatus for operating on the edge of a blank to apply ink thereto comprising an ink receptacle, an applying device therein, a movable cover for said applying device, a carrier movable in a predetermined path for presenting the edge of a blank to said applying device, and means on said cover contacting with said carrier thereby to move the cover aside as the blank is presented to the applying device.

FREDERICK E. HOOPER. 

